Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps completes third phase of 'Vivaldi' operation, capturing over 250 Russian troops

Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps, commanded by Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi, has completed the third phase of Operation Vivaldi. During this phase, Ukrainian forces liberated five settlements — Nove, Ridkodub and Katerynivka — and restored control over Karpivka and Novomykhailivka.

According to Biletskyi, the third phase allowed Ukrainian forces to reclaim 51 square kilometers of territory, bringing the total since the start of the operation to 176 square kilometers. Russian forces lost approximately 2,000 soldiers during this phase, with more than 250 taken prisoner, including entire units captured alongside officers, pilots and artillery crews.

The phase's main objective was capturing Nove, which served as a key support point for Russian forces in the bridgehead. Biletskyi said the Russian command had mistakenly expected the main Ukrainian strike to come through the Shandryholove–Zelena Dolyna direction, leading it to waste its reserves there on counterattacks while Ukrainian forces focused on taking Nove.

To break through Russian defensive lines, Ukrainian forces used converted Soviet-era BTR-60 armored personnel carriers, turned into robotic kamikaze systems to destroy the strongest fortifications. Troops from Ukraine's 3rd Separate Assault Brigade also took part in the operation, along with a border guard unit named after Colonel Yevhen Pikus and the mobile border guard unit 'Dozor'.

Robotic systems used extensively

Military analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko says Operation Vivaldi could become one of the most technologically advanced operations conducted by Ukraine's armed forces. For what he says is the first time in the history of warfare, a group of unmanned ground robotic systems was used specifically for demining. Near Shandryholove, these systems cleared mines from more than 30 kilometers of roads over two nights — a task that would normally take engineering units about two weeks and expose soldiers to significant risk. No casualties among combat engineers were reported.

Using remote mining, the corps also laid mines along roughly 400 meters of Russia's main supply routes over two nights, significantly hampering enemy logistics in the Lyman direction. Kovalenko notes that the corps makes extensive use of both aerial and ground drones wherever possible to reduce troop casualties, and predicts similar tactics could soon be adopted along other sections of the front.